OnliII guess that most of us have a pretty clear idea of what selling is. Following all, once we reach our adult years, most of us have been 'sold to' dozens of times already and as we go through life, it's going to happen again and again, probably with ever maximizing frequency. But familiarity breeds contempt as they show, so let me ask you a question. Have you ever truly sat down and thought exactly what selling is, or have you searched the net for ideas and definitions of exactly what selling is all about? I ask because as an experiment for this book, I did search the net for ideas and concepts about selling and was quite frankly amazed at the diversification and range of opinions and ideas of what selling truly is. From straightforward dictionary definitions – 'the exchange of goods for an agreed sum of income' (from Princeton WordNet) – to some far more detailed and esoteric descriptions, it’s clear that selling signifies many different issues to different people. And although research of this nature could all seem a bit prefer time being wasted (we all know what selling is, so why bother investigating it?), I disagree for a couple for reasons that are exceedingly relevant to you if you are trying to sell online. Firstly, selling online is not the same as selling offline. although the online and offline business worlds have lots in usual – far more in fact than many online marketers would have you believe – selling on the internet and in the local high street or shopping mall is not the same.